The company wanted to expand its customer base in the banking and insurance markets. To do so, it would need to ramp up its marketing efforts to promote its products' unique capabilities and successfully win new customers.

"We needed marketing materials badly," says John Doe, Vice President of Marketing at "Network Security Company," "but we had no one to do them. By outsourcing our marketing to Jumping Bean, we had the means to approach new customers and customer segments with slick marketing pieces that were professionally written and designed. It gave us instant credibility."

"Network Security Company" hired Jumping Bean Communications to develop a new library of marketing materials, from one-page datasheets to case studies, white papers, and user documentation for its Web application.

"Jumping Bean was obviously already experienced in technology marketing. They quickly understood our products," said Mr. Doe. "Jumping Bean also knew what we were trying to achieve, and gave us a very competitive estimate."

Jumping Bean Saves "Network Security Company" Considerable Costs in Printing

One of the challenges early on was how "Network Security Company" was going to print and distribute its new marketing collateral. The company had a tight marketing budget and an in-house color laser printer that it wanted to leverage.

To save "Network Security Company" considerable printing costs, "one of the first things we did was work with our graphic designer to come up with a template that allowed 'Network Security Company' to print marketing materials on the company's color printer," says Hsuan-min Chou, co-founder of Jumping Bean.

The need to print in-house affected the marketing plan from the very beginning. Although "Network Security Company" offered 10 security products that customers could purchase individually or in packages, a multi-page brochure was out of the question because it would require oversized paper stock, duplex printing, and compilation-capabilities the company's printer did not have.

"We decided that our designer would create a template for a one-page, one-sided datasheet as well as a professionally-printed folder with the company logo," said Blythe Howad-Chou, Jumping Bean's other co-founder. "This would be the company's largest marketing expense."

Jumping Bean then helped "Network Security Company" develop a marketing plan that involved creating a library of datasheets and case studies that could be packaged into folders and used as pitch kits. The pitch kits would be sent to potential customers and handed out at trade shows.

To keep messages distinct across all 10 datasheets, Jumping Bean worked with "Network Security Company" to define positioning for all 10 products. "By defining positioning up front, 'Network Security Company' will be able to communicate their marketing messages using data sheets to white papers, case studies, press releases, and many other collateral pieces," says Mrs. Howard-Chou.